Brassiere



E. M. FYFFE April 8, 1952 BRASSIERE Filed April 18, 1949 INVENTOR. [VA-Z m M YFFE Patented Apr. 8, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRASSIERE 1 Evelyn M. Fyfle, Detroit, Mich,

Application April 18, 1949, Serial No. 88,159

This invention relates to improvements in brassires, and aims, among other things, to provide a brassire which does not completely encircle the body, thereby permitting the wearer greater freedom of movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a brassire the lateral margins of which may be easily and quickly attached to, or detached from, the inner side of the garment beneath which it is worn so that the brassiere is completely con- 3 cealed by the garment, even when the latter consists of a backless dress or the halter of a bathing suit.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brassiere which may be strapless so that it is entirely invisible when worn beneath a strapless dress or halter.

Another object of the invention is to provide a brassiere which may be made of waterproof material so that it retain its shape and affords equal support whether wet or dry; and which, after detachment from a bathing suit, may be wiped dry and, if desired, attached to the inner side of a sunsuit or other dry garment; moreover the brassiere may be made of elastic material, such as rubber, so that it affords clinging support irrespective of whether it is wet or dry.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a brassire wherein means are provided between the cups, for ready attachment to, or detachment from, the garment beneath which it is worn to prevent any material movement of the front of the garment relative to the brassiere beneath it; thi is particularly advantageous when the brassiere is worn beneath a strapless halter for swimming.

Having thus stated some of the objects and advantages of the invention I will now describe some preferred embodiments thereof with the aid of the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the invention-in use.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the invention looking upon its outer side.

Figure 3 is a further enlarged view on the line 33 of Figure 1 showing one band and the fastening means thereon disengaged from other fastening means attached to the garment to be worn thereover.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a somewhat modified form of the invention in use.

Figure 5 is an'enlarged view looking onto the inner side of the brassiere shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a further enlarged section on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-42) 2 Figure 7 is an enlarged detail showing a-modified means for securing one band to the garment to be worn thereover. 1

Referring to the drawing, l designates two cups vertically secured to one another along their adjacent margins by a seam 2 which extends vertically between the wearers breasts. Each cup I consists of an upper portion la and a lower portion lb which are sewn or otherwise secured to one another along a seam 3 extending sub- 7 stantially horizontally across it. Secured against the inner faces of the cups I, and extending throughout the height I of the latter broadly speaking in a downwardly and; outwardly inclined direction arefeather bones 4, which are held in position by tapes5 the vertical margins of which are sewn or otherwise secured to their respective cups as indicated at 6.

Since one of the objects of the invention is to provide a brassiere which may be used in water and then dried oil, the cups are often made of rubber or other material which might irritatethe wearers nipples, particularly when the latter are wet, I therefore provide a thin fabric 1, usually cotton fabric, across the inner face of each cup and secure its lateral margins between the adjacent margins of the'tape s 5 and the cup to which the tapes are secured.

Extending laterally from the outer side of each cup I and secured thereto by a vertical seam 8 is a band 9, or 9a, having suitable fastening means It] or illa thereon adjacent its outer margin. Secured to the inner face of the brassire adjacent and preferably beneath each vertical seam 8 is another feather bone II also held in position by a tape I2 the opposite margins of which are usually sewn, or otherwise secured, to the cup I and band 9 respectively, thereby reinforcing the joint between these two parts.

The bands may either be quite short or relatively long; comparatively short bands 9 are shown in Figures 1 and 2, and considerably longer ones are depicted at 9a in Figures 4 and 5. The length of the bands depends in part upon the choice of the wearer, and also upon the garment beneath which the bras'sire is to be worn, since for backless sport dresses, for instance, the bands must be short enough to remain concealed. If longer bands 9a are used, due to the greater distance between their extremities, it is advisable to stiflen the central portion of the brassire with another feather bone I4 extending vertically beneath and across the seam 2 and held in position by a tape l5. While this bone 14 may also be used with short bands 9 it is often unnecessary because the distance between the extremities of the two bands is so much less. This is particularly true when the bands 9 are so short that the spacing between the fastening means ID on the two bands is substantially no greater than the distance between the outer margins of the two cups. Folded binding I6 extending throughout the width of the brassire over its upper and lower margins retains the feather bones l, II and 14 against longitudinal displacement and reinforces.

the edges of the garment.

The fastening means shown at It] consists of snap fasteners which are intended to cooperate with corresponding snaps l suitably secured tothe garment A beneath which the brassiere is worn. Figure 7 shows a modified arrangement wherein a zipper portion 10a is provided on the;

band 9 for coaction with a corresponding zipper portion Illa secured to a covering garment B. Inthe latter case a suitable flap [0b is provided on the brassiere to extend over the inner side of the zipper to protect the wearer from contact therewith.

In order to prevent slippage of a halter orother garment relative to the brassiere beneath it, it is preferable to provide a suitable fastening means, such as a snapfastener IT, on or adjacent the outer face of the seam 2 toward the top thereof for attachment toa corresponding fastener upon the covering garment.

The fastening means l0 and Illa are so spaced on the outer garment A or B on which they are attached that when the cooperating fastening means [0, or l0a, on the brassire arein engage-- ment with them, the brassire is held taut across the wearer's bust in spite of the fact that the outer extremities of the bands 9, or 9a, remain spaced and are not secured to one another;

The drawing indicates that the brassiere is made of rubber-which is highly satisfactory for my purpose, because it is elastic and hugs the body, and also gives equal support either when it is wet or dry; and too, it may be quickly dried and put on again beneath dry clothing. However certain plastic materials, though largely devoid of elasticity, possess the other advantages abovereferred to; or again my brassire may be made of plain or rubberized fabric, in which event itis equally satisfactory so long as it is not used while swimming, for when wet ordinary fabric does not afford adequate support, and rubberized fabric takes a long time to dry.

While in the foregoing the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and shown, it is understood that alterations and modifications may be made thereto provided the said alterations and modifications fall within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A brassiere comprising two cups made of flexible waterproof material having their adjacent margins joined to one another, each cup consisting of an upper portion and a lower portion secured to each other by a seam extending substantially-horizontally across the cup, upwardly and inwardly curved resilient reinforcing members extending the full heightof each cup to maintain the true shape of the breasts of the wearer. means holding each reinforcing member in position, a relatively narrow fabric strip in each cup extending across the horizontal seam and held at its ends by the holding means for said reinforcing members to protect the wearer's nipples. a band secured to the outer side edge of each cup. and fastening means on each band for engagement with corresponding fastening means on a garment worn over the brassire.

EVELYN M. FYFFE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:v

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,492,953 Bender May 6, 1924 2,061,238 Klein Nov. 17, 1936 2,359,804 Struthers Oct. 10, 1944 2,428,175 Norton Sept. 30, 1947 2,445,767 Dickerson July 27, 1948 2,457,989 Ettleson Jan. 4, 1949 2,472,940 Cummings June 14, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date" 420,515 Great Britain Nov. 28, 1934 

